The Game After
by Kirigaya-Asuna54
Summary: Read about the antics and events that happened between Phantom Bullet and Caliber, in-game and in real life! Following Kirito, Asuna, and everyone else in the series!
1. A New Sword

CHAPTER 1

**A/N: Okay, so this will be my first attempt at writing a multi-chapter story! The time frame of this will take place after Phantom Bullet but before Caliber (If you don't know what that is; go read the light novels or something that'll help you understand) so that's like a two week time frame. I will incorporate A LOT of characters so be warned, but they will all be of the series. No OC. This was made possible by Knowledgeseeker66's advice so go read his stories! Also this is dedicated to Bashabuttonstorys for awesomeness as a person, and for all the stories written, so go read those as well! Without further ado, chapter one!**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"Duck!" Kirito screamed at the Undine healer with long flowing blue hair. The girl with lightning fast speed with a rapier in hand did just as he said, barely managing to dodge the monster's katana. She jumped back to stand next to Kirito, looking at him with eyes the color of two clear pools of water.

"Thanks Kirito-kun, now let's beat this monster!" Asuna said with an energetic attitude. He nodded and fixed his grip on the black sword in his hand, recently forged by the leprechaun blacksmith Lisbeth, and charged at the monster.

Earlier, he had received the sword from the blacksmith as a gift, claiming that since he no longer had the sword Dark Repulser, he needed one that would be better than the current great sword he had. Asuna had offered to help him get used to the sword and he had agreed, unknowing of the way she thought she would help him get used to the sword.

"Switch." Asuna said to Kirito as he finished slashing a fourth of the monster's HP, sending it to late green. Kirito moved back and saw his in-game wife fighting in a way that showed exactly why she was given the name, Berserker Healer. The way her rapier moved with rapid movement and accuracy made him watch in awe, just as he did in old Aincrad, in the boss fight of the first floor and the ones after.

The monster they were fighting was almost indescribable. The form its body was contorted with battle scars and mixed with too many animals that it was hard to see what it mainly was. At most, you could tell it was humanoid for the fact it had arms and legs, and able to hold a katana. The head was that of a bird, with arms covered with reddish-black fur with some scales sticking out. On its back was for large spider legs sticking out, and its legs were covered in a sort of metal chain-link mesh that made it impossible to attack its legs. Its name was Samurai Beast, standing at three meters tall with a width of one meter.

'Why Asuna wanted to help me here, I'll never know...' Kirito thought as he was about to call a switch.

Originally, Asuna was planning on just sparring with him until she got an idea. She remembered that Kirito always got used to something fast when in a sudden situation, whether in SAO or ALO, so she brought him to the Imp territory of Alfheim. They were currently in a cave of the zone, and since many of the monsters in this area are somewhat unknown, Asuna thought it best to take Kirito here so that he could get used to the new weapon forged by Liz faster.

'I hope Kirito-kun understands why I brought him here' she thought as she gave a combo of stabs and slashes at the monsters bare chest.

"Asuna, switch!" She heard from behind and prepared to retreat, until something unexpected happened. She tried to dodge, but failed as an arrow hit her right shoulder, making the wound leak virtual blood while flinging her to one of the cave walls.

"Asuna!" screamed a concerned Kirito as he ran to her, completely ignoring the monster and dropping his sword. He crouched down as soon as he was near her, and saw her HP in the yellow zone and dropping slowly. He pulled the arrow out of her shoulder, making Asuna wince slightly. She sat up and looked and the situation in the way that resembled the way when she was the sub-leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, a pure strategic gaze.

'Doomed' was Asuna's first thought as she saw the monster a few feet away and Kirito without a sword. To top it all off, the monster had minions coming out from the shadows of the cave. Smaller versions of the monster came out with crossbows at hand instead of the katanas.

Standing up, with the help of Kirito, she gripped more firmly the rapier in her right hand. Kirito, seeing what his partner was planning immediately, held her back by her shoulders, making a confused look to appear on her face. He shook his head and gave her a smile, to which she understood completely. She sheathed her rapier and took some steps back and let Kirito fight all the monsters, despite her better judgment.

The Spriggan quickly dashed to where his sword was, grabbing the hilt of it, and ran to the main monster, Samurai Beast. Every fiber of Asuna wanted to help Kirito but she knew that he had something planned, but she didn't know if it was good or bad considering the reckless way he fought.

'I'm going to pray that this works.' Kirito thought as he charged the monster. Raising the sword high as he ran, he suddenly dug the sword into the ground and flung himself over the beast, sword still in hand.

'This idiot!' Asuna thought as she saw yet another one of her in-game husband's foolhardy, thoughtless, and irresponsible actions. She had thought that he would take the monster head on and somehow he managed to do something that, yet again, managed to shock her, even though they have been together for quite some time. 'I guess this aspect of him will always stay the same when it comes to Kirito-kun.' she thought as she watched him with a hopeless smile on her face.

Kirito had managed to fling himself over the monster and was now standing on its back waiting for the moment to come. The smaller monsters were beginning to take aim at him. Kirito narrowed his eyes, hidden behind his long hair, and began to look for the correct timing. Asuna held her breath, unknowing of what he plans to do. The moment finally came for Kirito to implement his plan.

Kirito jumped in the air again, just enough so that he didn't hit the roof of the cave, and landed on the head of the demon, sword first. Just as this happened, all the crossbows went off hitting the beast in the back. Asuna's eyes grew large when she saw what Kirito was trying to do.

'Weaken the monster with the weapons of its own minions... Kirito-kun I'm going to hug you then punch you for doing something so stupid.' she thought as Kirito was sliding down the monster with his blade in the beast's body. The damage Asuna had dealt to it managed to slice another fourth of its HP, and the damage sustained by the arrows sent the rest of its health to late yellow, with it in the verge of being in the red zone. The damage that Kirito was dealing now was astounding, now the HP of the Samurai Beast was in early red and dropping. The monster would have exploded into polygons had one thing not happened.

'Damn it!' Kirito thought as he was thrown into the cave wall on the opposite side of Asuna. 'Why did I forget about the spider legs?' he thought as he checked his own health and saw it in early yellow. Asuna saw this and immediately wanted to go to him, but just as she moved, an arrow hit her again, this time in her stomach, making her fall to her knees and bowing her head down.

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**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! How did you like the first chapter? Sorry about the cliffhanger but I was reading House of Hades when writing this and I got inspired by Uncle Rick to do a cliffhanger. If I get more than 4 positive reviews then I'll post the next chapter next week. Sorry about any grammatical errors or OOC-ness in the chapter. Review if you liked it or review if you didn't, I could use the feedback! **


	2. No Harm

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! As promised in the previous chapter, there were more than 4 positive reviews so here is the second chapter, but first…**

**Guest(s) - Thank you for the reviews and I would PM you this but it's a guest review…**

**Awesome Guest- Thanks to you as well for the review! The thought think was something I'd thought I'd change since I have seen a lot of stories with italics in it. I also love Bashabuttonstorys so I know how you feel *fangirls on the floor* and don't worry, I didn't forget Sinon/Shino!**

**And finally…**

**Bashabuttonstorys, Agent 94, and KaiserNight- PMed this already but, thank you! **

**Now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"ASUNA!" Kirito screamed as he saw his beloved hit and collapsing. Ignoring the fact that he was still weak from the attack, he tightened his grip on his sword and charged the minions, his vision tinted slightly red at the edges from anger. Within seconds, the air was filled with the floating fragments of polygons that used to be the minions. He turned to the monster and once again charged.

Looking up, Asuna saw the air filled with polygons and Kirito charging the monster headfirst. 'What happened in the few seconds I look down to my wound?' Asuna asked herself. Asuna had looked down to her wound immediately after hearing Kirito scream her name, wanting to take out the arrow that was lodged in her. She then looked at her HP to see if there was any status like poison but she saw none. When she saw this, she looked up to see if anything had happened to see a scene that confused her.

No one word could describe the mixed emotions of rage and vengeance that Kirito felt. As he was charging towards the beast, he remembered a sword skill he used to do in SAO and decided to replicate is actions. Kirito moved his sword slightly downward and continued with his charge until he was some feet from his target. Just as he was under the head of the beast, he jumped and brought the blade into contact with the face of the beast and dragged it into a downward slash, causing is HP to quickly diminish. Asuna gasped slightly as she saw what Kirito had done, he had used managed to almost perfectly replicate the sword skill Sonic Leap. The air was once again full of polygons and the threat was gone, Kirito took some steps back and feel backwards on the cave floor.

"Kirito-kun!" Asuna said in a panicked tone as she ran to him. She worried that he might have fallen unconscious from the fight, just as he had done fighting Gleam Eyes on floor 74. Before she even reached him, Kirito sat up looking straight at Asuna with a dazed, but goofy grin on his face. She quickly embraced Kirito in a death grip, not wanting to let him go. A small chuckle escaped Kirito's lips at Asuna's hug.

As she heard this, Asuna remembered what she was going to do to Kirito for doing something so stupid. She let Kirito out of her death grip and brought her right fist back, prepared to send it flying to Kirito's face. Kirito moved faster, quickly claiming her lips with his. Asuna's face turned a deep shade red at the sudden action, but returned the affection and let her hand drop. When they parted, their foreheads were pressed together, both of them with blushing faces and small smiles.

"I'm glad you're safe Asuna." Kirito said, breaking the silence between them. Hearing this, a question popped into Asuna's head.

"Kirito-kun, why is it that you wanted to fight all the monsters by yourself? I could have helped, you know." Asuna asked him as she moved her forehead away from his to look at his face more clearly. Giving a sheepish smile, he looked into her eyes, onyx locking with cerulean, and answered her honestly.

"Well, during the fight when you got hurt, all I could think about was protecting you. Even if our real lives aren't at risk anymore, I'm still going to protect you no matter what." as he said this, Asuna could feel tears threatening to spill from her eyes and she embraced Kirito again, fighting the urge to let them overflow from her eyes. Another question appeared in her mind as she thought back to the battle.

"Is that why you went insane and fought all of the minions at speed almost as fast as mine?" she questioned him. He looked down slightly embarrassed.

"Well, that's part of the reason why." he grabbed her hand and held it in his before continuing.

"When I saw you fall to the ground from the arrow, all I could think of was getting revenge at whomever and whatever hurt you. I wanted to keep you save and rip apart anything that tried to harm you. As long as I'm here, I won't allow any harm to come your way if I can stop it. Nothing will ever happen to you because I love you, Asuna." he stated clearly with confidence in his voice and a look of pure love in his onyx eyes.

Asuna made no effort to contain her tears of joy, and she allowed the tears to fall down her cheeks as she grabbed Kirito's face in her hands and kissed him, slipping her arms around his neck and as his arms went around her waist. They stayed that way for some time, in each other's embrace, not acknowledging the world around them or the fact that a monster could spawn at any moment. They could only concentrate on their significant other in that moment. When Asuna got a message, they finally broke apart with an evident blush on both of their faces, from the kiss and the lack of air they had. She checked her messages to see who it was that had interrupted them in such a sweet moment, when she saw what the message said.

SENDER- LISBETH

Asuna, I was just wondering if Kirito had gotten used to the new sword yet.

He probably has knowing him, but I felt a need to ask, my pride as a blacksmith is on the line!

Anyway, answer when you can.

Come to my shop later!

I have a surprise for you as well!

Liz out!

As Asuna read the message she couldn't help but begin to laugh. She had forgotten that the whole reason they had gone to the Imp territory today, was to get Kirito used to his new sword. Kirito looked beyond confused at the laughing Asuna in front of him, wondering if the moment they just shared caused her to be just a bit too lightheaded. She saw the face on him and quickly put the message on visibility mode for him to see. Not long after Kirito read the message, the laughs of the couple echoed though the cave so much that it could be heard from the entrance of the cave.

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**A/N: And scene! Sorry of anything is wrong or of anything like that (OOC, grammar errors, etc.) Review you opinion, whether it be good or bad, feedback is always welcomed! Until next week! **


	3. A Note

**A/N: Okay so the last chapter will probably be the worst chapter since I gave up on rewriting that like 5 times… but I will eventually rewrite it! Thank you for all the reviews, the feedback is wonderful!**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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The young couple quickly made their way out of the cave and to the World Tree, to where Liz's shop was set up in Yggdrasil City. Kirito held on tightly to Asuna's hand as they walked down the path. Asuna felt a small thing, pestering her, in the back of her mind like she was forgetting something. It bothered her immensely, since she hated when this happened.

They walked to the edge of Imp territory to begin their flight to Liz's shop, until Kirito looked to his left. A tall tree was some ways away from the path that they had been walking. Upon seeing this, Kirito's face grew a devious smile as an idea formed in his mind. Asuna, having seen the look on his face before, grew wary of what might happen and began to run from him.

Or at least she tried too.

Kirito, activating his wings at the same time, quickly wrapped his arms around Asuna's waist and flew both of them to lay under the shade of the tree.

"K-Kirito-kun! W-what about going to Liz's shop?" she asked in her usual flustered manner as she turned around to look at him. He held her close from her waist, and pressed their foreheads together before he answered.

"We still have time so can go later, besides look at the weather. What does this remind you of?" he asked her. She looked around and took inventory of her surroundings. The clear blue sky of Alfheim mixed with the rays of the sun, the breeze coming from the forest, and the way the shade of the tree fell on the grass seemed perfect for a certain activity.

"Ah, so you intention becomes clear. You want to take a nap, right?"

"Is there anything better to do when the weather is this good? I'd rather take a nap with you right now then do anything else." Asuna blushed again as she heard Kirito say those words, but she nodded in agreement and snuggled into Kirito's chest. With his head placed on top of hers, the couple fell asleep almost instantly.

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30 Minutes Later

Sinon made her way down the path, heading to the entrance of Imp territory's many caves when she felt a prickly feeling in the back of her neck. She had that feeling back in GGO, when other people were close by. She sensed two people, but something about the presence of the people felt familiar. She walked in the direction of the people, a little ways off the path that she was following, and when she found the two, she just barely managed to contain her laughter.

What she saw was Asuna and Kirito asleep in each other's arms. She couldn't help but want to laugh at this. She remembered what Lisbeth had told her back in her shop earlier that the couple had gone to train.

'Some training.' Sinon thought to herself.

She opened her menu, taking a piece of parchment from her items list and wrote a message on it. She walked over silently to the tree the couple was under and took one of her arrows from her quiver, and stabbed the parchment to the tree and walked back to the path, grinning slightly as she continued to the Imp territory for her training.

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10 Minutes Later

Asuna opened her light blue eyes and looked up at the sleeping face of Kirito. She remembered when back in Aincrad, she had always woken up before Kirito so that she could stare at the cute and naive face that he had in his sleep. A smile immediately formed on Asuna's face and she closed her eyes for a bit, wanting to just lay there with Kirito. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze drifted upwards, noticing something on the tree that hadn't previously been there when they feel asleep. As Kirito began to stir from his sleep, her eyes went back to his face, and when his eyes opened, his onyx eyes locked with hers,

"Good Morning, Kirito-kun." Asuna said with a bright smile, breaking the silence. He smile back and kissed her forehead, bringing a light pink color to her cheeks.

"Morning" he said. The both of them sat up, Kirito trying to stifle his yawns, and Asuna fixing her blue Undine hair. Kirito finally took into notice what was on the tree.

"Asuna, was that there before?"

"No, it wasn't. What do you think it is?"

"It' a… paper?"

"Huh?"

Kirito stood up and walked to the arrow, wanting to see what the paper had written on it, with Asuna doing the same. When they came to the tree, Asuna pulled the arrow out and Kirito quickly caught the paper.

"It's a note." He said to Asuna, who had a questioning look on her face.

His eyes scanned the paper quickly and they grew as he continued to read. He handed her the paper with an evident blush on his face, not meeting her eyes in embarrassment.

'Why, just why did that have to happen?" Kirito asked himself as he handed the paper over to Asuna.

'Just what would make Kirito-kun so flustered?' she thought before she began to read the paper.

Asuna, Kirito.

I walk into the Imp territory and just what do I happen to find? You two asleep under a tree.

Lisbeth told Silica and I that you were going training today when we were in her shop earlier.

You two sure have weird training.

I'm leaving this as a warning not to do this again since if anyone else saw this they would take pictures and mention this for years to come.

Be glad I didn't bring Silica with me.

-Sinon.

Asuna's cheeks were reddened by the time she finished reading the second sentence. Sinon had seen them sleeping together under the tree. Both of them thought that this was just about the worst thing to have happened in that moment.

'She is right about one thing, I'm glad she didn't take Silica with her' Asuna and Kirito thought at the same time. The youngest of the group would most certainly do exactly what Sinon said and mention it forever and probably tell all of their friends, whether it be online or real.

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**A/N: This was a bit too much fun to write. I said Sinon would be in it and she is! Again, sorry about any OOCness, grammar errors, and anything along those lines. Till next week! **


	4. The Two Sylphs

**A/N: Thank you people for all of the reviews, they are seriously helping! Another chapter! Hope you enjoy… *rubs hands together evilly* I seriously had too much fun writing these.**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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After the embarrassment that they went through, the Undine and the Spriggan quickly flew to Yggdrasil City. The couple landed on the edge of the city and began to walk to Lisbeth's shop, hand in hand.

"Hey Asuna, what do you think the surprise for you is?" Kirito asked her.

"Hmm, knowing Liz it could be anything... I'm just going to hope it isn't scary." Asuna replied, shuddering at the thought. Kirito smile and tightened his grip on Asuna's hand slightly.

"If that happens, I'll be there to comfort you." Kirito said to her. She smiled at his words.

"Aw, Kirito-kun. That deserves a kiss." she said as she planted her lips on his cheek. Kirito's face turned red at the sudden affection, and he looked away as they continued walking.

Normally the city would be filled with a lot of players of all of the races, but today the street were empty, empty enough to be noticed by them.

"Where do you think everyone is?" Asuna asked Kirito.

"I don't know, maybe an event that we don't know about is happening?" he asked before they were surprised by the beaten form of Recon landing from the sky. He had fallen just in front of them, HP low and virtual blood on his torso from whatever had hurt him. Recon opened his eyes and saw Kirito and Asuna in from of him.

"Kirito! You have to help me! She's your sister, so you can stop her!" he said before he scrambled to his feet and began to run away as fast as his agility stats let him.

'Sister? Lyfa did that to him!? What did he do to deserve that!?' both Kirito and Asuna wondered upon hearing Recon's words. Before either of them could ask one another what they thought happened between those two, Lyfa finally made her way into this strange scene.

"RECON, GET BACK HERE!" Lyfa screamed at the running Sylph after landing some feet from the couple. The face Lyfa had on was one Kirito had seen before, it was a mix of anger and embarrassment.

'Last time I saw a person with a face like that, it was when that incident with Asuna happened at the teleportation gate on floor 74…' Kirito thought as Lyfa was about to pull out her sword from its sheath, until she saw them. A surprised look overcame Lyfa's face as she spotted Kirito and Asuna.

"Lyfa-chan, what did he do to you that you feel the need to hurt him?" Asuna asked before Kirito could. The look Lyfa previously had returned, and her hand took place on her sword hilt again.

"I'll explain it AFTER I kill him!" Lyfa said as she ran to chase after Recon. Kirito quickly wrapped his arms around Lyfa's shoulders to stop her, taking her sword away and throwing it to Asuna who caught it agilely.

"No! Let go of me, Onii-chan! Recon has to be punished!" Lyfa kept on screaming while kicking in Kirito's arms. Kirito looked to Asuna in hope of answers but all he got in response was a shrug. He sighed and they now dragged Lyfa with them to Lisbeth's Arms Shop, in hope of some answers. As they walked into the store, they were quickly greeted by Liz.

"Hey Asuna, Kirito. I ju-" Liz stopped talking as she saw the annoyed girl in Kirito's arms.

"Uh Liz, do you think you could help us so that Lyfa-chan could tell us what happened between her and Recon?" Asuna asked her best friend. Even though she was somewhat confused by the situation, Liz agreed nonetheless.

'Oh god, what new drama did they bring to my store!?' Liz thought as Kirito and Asuna dragged Lyfa deeper into the blacksmith shop.

Liz took the small stool she kept in the corner and placed it in the middle of the shop. Kirito then placed Lyfa on the stool. She now only had a pout on her face with a tint of pink on her cheeks and her eyebrows furrowed.

'I wonder what Recon did that made Lyfa-chan that way?' Asuna thought to herself before they begun to question Lyfa. 'I know that Kirito-kun has done many things to get me angry, but not enough to want to kill him.'

"Are you going to explain what happened?" Kirito asked the young Sylph. Lyfa looked down to the floor of the blacksmith shop, apparently now interested in the stone underneath her. Asuna finally took into notice Lyfa's actions, the way she looked away from a person's gaze with a shade of red on her face… she was embarrassed. Asuna recognized those things from when Kirito was like that.

"Um... It's just that Recon... Ugh, I'm going to strangle him when I see him!" Lyfa said as she shot up from the stool. Asuna and Liz quickly put a hand on one of Lyfa's shoulders, pushing her back in her previous sitting position in the stool. Asuna crouched down to see Lyfa, face to face.

"Lyfa-chan, maybe we can help you. Just tell us what happened and maybe we can do something about it." Asuna told the younger girl. Lyfa's gaze switched between the three of them and sighed in surrender.

"Recon and I… we were in the neutral territory near Sylvain, just fighting against some mobs since we were trying to improve his fighting skills. Recon finally managed to defeat a high leveled one without any help and..." she looked to the floor again before continuing with her tale,"... he… flew up to me and kissed me..."

"..."

The three, Asuna, Kirito, and Lisbeth, didn't know how to respond to what she had said. Kirito was the first to break the silence in the shop. Unfortunately, it was with laughter. Lyfa hid her face in her hands upon his reaction. Liz turned her face away from Lyfa, and she covered her mouth with her hands to hide her growing smile. Asuna was the only one that didn't react in an offending way, at least not on the outside. Internally, she was exactly like Kirito.

"Lyfa-chan, I know EXACTLY how you feel." she turned to look at Kirito, "your brother does those types of things a bit more then I would like as well." She finished and saw the sheepish smile he gave her before looking away, with sudden interest in the wall. Lyfa finally took her hands away from her face to look at Asuna.

"Then what should I do? I'm confused as to what is going to happen with our friendship, Asuna-san." Lyfa asked with a pleading face, wanting an answer desperately. To this, Liz surprisingly answered.

"It's simple Lyfa; you just have to talk to each other about your emotions."

"E-EMOTIONS!? W-WHAT EMOTIONS!? WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT EMOTIONS!?"

Kirito chuckled as he saw Lyfa get hysterical at Liz's response. Asuna elbowed him slightly, not wanting him to be rude in his sister's intense moment of panic. He spoke up after the jab to his side.

"Look, didn't you already know about how he felt? It's no surprise that he did that, it would have happened eventually. Wait, this explains why you're embarrassed but that's not really enough to kill him… did something else happen?"

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**A/N: I seriously couldn't resist writing this. Once again, sorry about any OOCness, grammar errors… you know what I mean. Till next week! **


	5. The Something Else

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews! And here's the continuation of last week's chapter! Now here comes the most depressing moment for a fanfiction author, the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"..."

The silence coming from the young Sylph girl was all the confirmation that Kirito and the other two girls needed. Recon had done something more, something that made Lyfa mad enough to want to kill him, apparently.

"Well, go ahead and spill or we could just go to Recon and ask..." Liz said in an attempt to get Lyfa to confess what happened. In all of them, besides Lyfa of course, their curiosity was at its peak, wanting to know what happened, besides the kiss.

"... Well... He..." Lyfa fell silent, seemingly too mortified to even answer. Her hands went back to cover her face, not wanting to see them.

'How could Nagata-kun be so stupid!?' Lyfa asked herself as she contemplated how to tell her friends.

"Come on, how bad could it be?" Kirito asked her, in hope of receiving an answer from the girl.

"HE SENT ME A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL! THAT'S HOW BAD IT IS! "Lyfa screamed at him with her hands still on her face. Silence ensued when she finished, which didn't last long. The shop was filled with the laughter of all three players now, with a flustered Lyfa just sitting there.

"God, this is something I can make fun of for a good amount of time." Liz said, making the laughter even stronger in the room and Lyfa's blush to deepen more. When their laughter finally died down, they apologized to the young girl in green before continuing with the conversation.

"This just shows that Liz is right, you have to talk to each other about your feelings. Tell me Lyfa-chan, what are your feelings towards Recon?" Asuna asked her. Lyfa just continued to hide her face in silence.

"Wait! Is your fight what caused all that commotion in the streets? Is that what made everyone leave? To go to watch the spectacle Recon and you made?" Liz, still slightly giggling, asked the girl on the stool. This caught the attention of Kirito and Asuna. When they had been walking to come here, before Recon landed in front of them, they had all been wondering what happened to the people.

"Unfortunately... Yes... and Asuna-san, to answer your question... I have no idea." Lyfa finally managed to say.

"Well, it's a start. This is why you two need to talk", Asuna tightened her grip on Lyfa's sword as she said this, "and I'm not giving this back until you do."

"B-but... fine. But what do I tell him if I don't know what I feel?" Lyfa asked with a pleading look in her eyes. Asuna's eyes turned to Kirito.

"W-what? W-why are you giving me that look?" he asked nervously.

"I figured you could answer since you were in that situation as well, Kirito-kun." Asuna said with a teasing tone in her voice. Kirito's face turned red, while a questioning look overtook Lyfa's face.

"Onii-chan in the same situation... What do you mean Asuna-san?"

"Well, when your brother and I were in old Aincrad, he had a difficult time saying how he felt about me since even he didn't know." Kirito started to step slightly towards the direction of the door until Asuna grabbed him by the sleeve to stop him from leaving.

"Is that true? Were you in the same situation? Because Asuna-san is right, you could help me Onii-chan!" Lyfa said with a new tone, one filled with an eagerness to have answers. Kirito sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, it's true. B-but in my defense, I was never good with my feelings in the first place!"

"Get on with it! I need help!"

"Right, well, when I realized I loved Asuna, it was when I was about to die a couple times... all I could think about was Asuna and wanting to be with her." he said while he ran his right hand through his raven hair, not looking at any of them. Asuna's heart gave a squeeze when he mentioned almost dying, but her heart skipped a few beats when he said he only thought about her during those moments.

"Are you saying I should risk my life?" Lyfa queried with a questioning look.

"W-what? N-no! That's not what I meant... How to put this into words..." he mumbled off with his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"I think I know what he's saying." Liz spoke.

"You do?" the others asked the pink-haired blacksmith, who simply nodded before continuing.

"He's trying to say that your deepest feeling to someone become obvious when in a certain scenario. Am I right?" Kirito could only nod to what Liz said; confused that she could somehow understand perfectly the message he had been trying to say.

"How does that help me? You want me to go do something stupid enough that would be worthy of being on the list of my brother's blunders? I don't think that's possible at this point." Lyfa asked Liz as Kirito scowled at her.

"No Lyfa-chan, but talking to Recon could be the perfect scenario for you to realize your feelings." Asuna said for Liz since she was too busy laughing in the corner of the store from Lyfa's words.

"I'm willing to try if it means this whole ordeal with be in the past... I'm going to go find him... I hope he doesn't still think I'm trying to kill him..." she said as she left the shop. Asuna walked over to the counter in the back and left Lyfa's sword on it, Kirito came up to her and stood by her side.

"Kirito-kun... Did you really mean what you said? That you only thought of me when you almost died?" she asked him, red faced. He gave her an honest smile and nodded.

"In the three major times I was almost killed, all I could think of was you and only you." he stepped closer and kissed her cheek, making her blush deepen. When Kirito's lips left her cheek, the laughter coming from Liz finally died down.

They both turned to look at her and saw her sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with tears clinging to her eyes.

"You know Liz, if you keep laughing like that, I might make Klein do that same thing to you that Recon did to Lyfa." Kirito said with a smirk. This caused a look of panic to cross Liz's face.

"You wouldn't dare..."

"How much are you willing to bet?"

"Okay, stop it before Liz ends up losing her shop." Asuna said to break up their small confrontation. Liz picked herself off the ground and walked to stand in front of them.

"Just WHY would I lose my shop?" she asked the Undine in front of her through narrowed eyes.

"Because you're willing to bet your shop and you know Kirito-kun WOULD, in fact be willing to do that." Asuna stated while Liz simply pouted, for she knew her best friend was right.

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**A/N: Jeez, this is just to fun to write. Sorry about any errors in this story and we shall meet again next week!**


	6. A Recap

**A/N: Yay! Another week, another chapter! Getting closer to chapter 10! Thank you everyone for the reviews and thank you Senpai (Bashabuttonstorys) for just making my day when we talk!**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"Putting all of this aside, how do you like your new sword? You better say you like it, I'll get my mace out if you say otherwise." Liz said to Kirito with a deadly gleam in her eyes. Asuna couldn't help but smile at the face he had of terror and fear.

"I-I like the sword, really! And I've pretty much gotten used to it with Asuna's help." He said as he walked a few steps away from the pink-haired blacksmith.

At the mention of her help, Asuna couldn't help but have that feeling of forgetting something, the same one she had when they had been walking out of the Imp territory. She ran through her memory of what happened during the battle, to see if something clicked.

Unfortunately for Kirito, she did.

"That what I forgot!" Asuna said, surprising the other two. She brought her right fist back, and before Kirito could ask what was wrong, it connected with his face. Liz just stood there, mouth open and eyes wide. The force of the punch threw him five feet away and into the wall, before sliding onto the floor.

"Okay, what did I do this time?" a confused and dazed Kirito asked as he put a hand on the wall to get up.

"That's for doing something so reckless!" Asuna said with a pout and her eyebrows brought down to be a semi-scowl.

"S-sorry?"

"No excuse, Kirito-kun! You should have known I would be worried sick." Asuna pointed out.

"Wait, wait, and wait! What the HELL is going on here?" Liz exclaimed while frantically moving her hands. Kirito finally managed to get on his feet, and on his face was a red digital mark from the blow.

"Asuna, you explain to Liz while I try to see if I don't have any virtual brain damage or something…" Kirito said as he walked to sit in the stool that had Lyfa some minutes before. Liz looked to Asuna for the answer that she wanted as to what had happened on their small outing earlier that day.

"Kirito-kun and I went to the Imp territory and-"

"Did you see Sinon? She said she was heading there to train so she could raise some of her stats." Liz said interrupting the story of why Asuna was angry with her beloved. At the mention of Sinon, both Asuna and Kirito's faces went instantly red, remembering the moment of embarrassment they previously had.

"Uh, no we didn't see her. ANYWAYS, back to what happened." Asuna said quickly to divert any further questions on the subject.

As Asuna continued relaying the story, Kirito was moving uncomfortably in the stool as she mentioned certain aspects of the story, looking at the floor. He couldn't help but replay he image of Asuna falling on the cave floor from the arrow wound, it kept bringing his anger back in large quantities. The more she continued with the story the more he kept on being uncomfortable.

As Asuna went silent, Kirito finally looked up from staring at the stone of the shop floor to Asuna. Her eyes were filled with mixed emotions; love, anger, worry, and kindness.

"What you did was still pretty stupid, you know that right?" Asuna said to him with a tone that said she was stating a fact instead of a question.

"I know… I guess it can't be helped…"

"Isn't that my line?" she asked him in a gentler tone, finally showing him a smile and letting down her previous negative emotions. That managed to get him livelier and he smiled back at her. Wanting to lighten the mood to his advantage, he told her something that would get her flustered.

"So Asuna, why don't you tell Liz what happened after the fight? Before we left the cave?" he got the reaction he had been hoping for, her eyes went wide and her face flushed red to the roots of her hair.

"K-K-Kirito-kun… w-why… you… I…" Asuna fell silent as she looked down and drowned in her embarrassment. Kirito and Liz couldn't help but smile at her reaction. The Spriggan and Leprechaun always loved to see the blue haired girl embarrassed.

"Wait, so what DID happen?" Liz asked curious as to what her best friend was so embarrassed about.

"Well, Asu-"

"KIRITO-KUN!" Asuna said in a way to immediately make him back off, and to top it off, the signature cold glare of hers.

"Okay, I won't mention it anymore." He said before she started to shot lasers out of her eyes with her fury. She heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly, knowing Liz wouldn't know what had happened between them. Liz shoulders slumped in disappointment. She turned and grabbed Lyfa's sword from the counter, muttering quietly to herself as she went to put the sword in the back of her shop.

"… don't see why… new sword… stubborn…"

Kirito and Asuna couldn't help smile at their blacksmith friend and the way she was complaining. Liz had been trying to convince Lyfa to get a new sword for about 3 weeks now, but Lyfa kept on refusing, saying that her sword was still good for fighting.

"Looks like stubbornness runs in the family." Asuna said with a small smirk.

"Careful Asuna, it might rub off on you." Kirito said as he stood up from the stool and over to Asuna to stand only inches away from her, leaning against the counter.

"Now that I think about it, that can't happen. Asuna is already stubborn, more than Lyfa and I combined." Kirito said to her, but not a single lace of sarcasm could be found in his voice. Asuna quickly had a pout on her face.

"I'm not that stubborn…" she said weakly in her defense.

"You are, but it's one of your many endearing traits." He said looking at her face, wanting to see her reaction. Once more, the blue haired girl's face turned red from Kirito's words. Liz came back form the back of the shop to see Kirito leaning against the counter with a smirk on his face and Asuna red-faced, again.

"Well, now that all the drama is out of the way, time for your surprise Asuna!" Liz said, bringing out a panicked look in Asuna's face.

"This ought to be good…" Kirito muttered as he watched, amused as he crossed his arms over his chest, getting ready for the show before him to unfold.

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**A/N: Okay, so now you know what to expect next chapter! I'm adding a function to the game so expect that. I'll say this now; this was kinda like a filler. I'M SO SORRY! Next chapter will be better, I promise!**


	7. The Surprise

**A/N: Next chapter! As you know from the previous chapter, there is a function added! Thanks to all who reviewed and Senpai (Bashabuttonstorys) who gave me a shout out in his story, go read them!**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"This isn't a bad surprise is it, Liz?" Asuna asked the pink haired girl with a look of anxiety in her eyes.

"Not all of my surprises are bad. Lighten up!"

"Still I can remember when some of them are…"

"Name one!"

"Ahem, can we get on with this please?" Kirito asked the two girls. Asuna gave him a look that said 'why!?' while Liz gave a look that said 'on with the show!' All Kirito could do was smirk.

"Okay, now for the gift! I have to warn you, I kind of didn't intentionally get it…" Liz said as she operated her menu so get the gift out.

Asuna shot a questioning look at Kirito, asked him with her eyes what he thought the gift was, but what she got in response was a simple shrug for he honestly didn't know what Liz had planned as her sudden gift. Knowing Liz, she could have gotten Asuna an astral type familiar or something. The thought of it passed through the couples mind but there were obvious different reactions to it, a shiver of dread and a grin of amusement.

"Ah, here it is!" Liz said triumphantly as she brought out the gift in a brief flash of white, having a sword appear in her hands. A sound of relief passed Asuna's lips as she saw what the gift was, but a question popped up in Kirito's mind as he registered the sword in Liz's hands.

"Wait Liz, if it's a sword, how come you said you didn't 'intentionally' get it?" he asked the blacksmith.

"Well to answer that, you need to take out your new sword." She replied, confusing the Undine and Spriggan. Despite the confusion, Kirito uncrossed his arms and brought out his new sword from the sheath on his back. The couple saw the similarities between the swords almost immediately, the design in the hilt and the sword type since they were both one handed swords. The blade sizes were different but the color was also different since Kirito's black and the one in Liz's hands a white rapier.

"Well I investigated a bit! When I was making Kirito's sword using the new function for blacksmithing, 'Multi-ingots', all was fine until the final hit. When that happened, two swords popped out instead of one. I thought it was a glitch, but it's not."

"Wait, how? Did you talk to a GM or something?" Kirito asked her, wanting to know how she had made that deduction.

"No need. I used my appraisal skill and saw, that although they are separate swords, they are counterparts. Look I'll show you!" she said as she gestured them to come closer to her as she began the appraisal of the sword. The next to the swords name was a slash and a word in small text saying 'counterpart' in a clickable box.

"Well there's something you don't see every day." Kirito said.

"Do two swords normally come out?" Asuna asked.

"As it turns out, the combination of ingots that I used with the function has six different outcomes when forging a sword. The first five are swords with special properties like General Eugene's sword, but the sixth one was only known on the information website under the 'rare' category. The sixth one is what you guys have, the counterpart swords," Liz said as she took up a pose of triumph, "and I made it!"

"So since the swords are counterpart that's why they look alike, right?" Asuna asked.

"Yes! Though, I still think it's weird that it came out exactly according to your sword preference since apparently that's randomized." Liz said as she began to tap her left index finger against her chin.

"What do you mean randomized?" Kirito queried.

"Well, it's like this. The two swords can come out any two swords types or the same type, but your swords came out exactly to what you guys use, a normal one handed sword and a rapier." Liz answered. The couple looked at each other, smiling at having special swords again. A small question quickly popped up in the back of Asuna's head.

"Say Liz, what is the name of our swords?" she asked the blacksmith.

"Yours is 'Astral Snow' and Kirito's is 'Limit Breaker'" Liz said, bringing a small smile to both of their faces. Both of the names of their swords reminded them of the ones they had when they were in old Aincrad in SAO.

"Well Liz, I guess this shows what an awesome blacksmith you are." Kirito said as he put his sword back in its sheath, Asuna doing the same with a nearby light blue sheath on the wall of the store.

"Damn right! This one of my finest moments as a blacksmith! Making more weapons that are one of a kind!" she said with a tone full of pride and accomplishment as she retook her pose of triumph.

"If her ego wasn't big before, I think it is now…" Kirito whispered to Asuna, causing her cover her mouth with her hand to stifle some of the giggles coming out as she pushed his shoulder slightly with her other hand.

"Don't be mean Kirito-kun! You know how Liz is when it comes to blacksmithing." She told him, as if to scolding a little kid, but all he did was chuckle.

"Yeah, I know. I wonder what she's going to make now." Kirito wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She answered before turning to Liz with her question and asking her.

"Ugh, I wish I knew! The only thing I can do now is convince Lyfa to get a new sword, which will be next to impossible since she is almost halfway as stubborn as you Asuna!" as Liz finished saying this, Kirito quickly burst out laughing while Asuna stood there with her mouth open and eyes wide.

"D-do you ALL think I'm THAT stubborn?" Asuna asked with a somewhat shocked expression. Liz nodded and all Kirito could do was laugh at his in-game wife's expression. After a few seconds, his laughter died down and he looked at Asuna in the eyes.

"Hey, remember what I said about you being stubborn." Kirito said to remind her of what he had said before the surprise. Asuna's eyebrows furrowed when she looked through her memory to remember what he said, and when she did, her face blushed the same color as Liz's hair. Asuna quickly looked at Kirito and a silent challenge was exchanged in the single glance, making Liz want to escape while she still had the chance.

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**A/N: Hmm, I wonder what the challenge will be! To leave some mystery, this chapter and chapter 5 had hints as to what chapter 10 could be. Till next week! **


	8. The Duel

**A/N: Not good at action so I'm sorry if this isn't any good, saying this now. **

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"I know that look on your faces, I don't like that look…" Liz said as she began to take a few steps back, away from the competitive aura from the couple.

"Okay Kirito-kun, since you say I'm so stubborn, I propose a challenge! First one to lose most of their HP after 10 minutes or dies first is the most stubborn!" Asuna stated to Kirito who nodded in agreement to her terms.

"Alright, but I'll warn you, I've improved since the last time we've dueled and I hope your prepared to lose!" Kirito said as he gave a look of determination to win. Asuna pouted at his words, but said nothing for she was determined to make him eat them. All three of them quickly went outside and flew to an empty city square to begin the duel which wasn't hard to find since the city was still mostly empty from the one-sided fight between Lyfa and Recon.

The square was a bleached shade of white with the tiles shining from the gleam of the sun. The four marble columns at the end of each corner showed obvious signs of damage from the way there were chunks of marble missing from the top and the sides. The tiles were no exception for they were the same with the broken parts lead to the middle of the square.

"Looks like people duel here a lot…" Liz said to Kirito and Asuna as they both walked to the middle of the square to prepare their fight, trying to lighten the competitive mood that overtook them.

"Let's just hope we don't end up destroying the entire square by accident, right Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked him.

"I'm just hoping I don't get flung across it since I know a certain someone has a history with that." Kirito said, eyeing the columns carefully. Following his gaze, Asuna was about to reply with a question until a memory flashed in her mind, Floor 74's teleportation gate.

"I make no promises, Kirito-kun." She said with a playful smile which only helped Kirito in shuddering at the mere thought of her doing that again. Liz noticed this and made a mental note to ask what they were talking about later and began to think about the duel.

'I wonder if they would let me record the fight with those recording crystals I got from Agil a while back…' Liz thought as she eyed the columns to put the crystals on with her devious smile growing as she quickly flew to Asuna. She quickly asked the Undine and got immediate approval since it was perfect to record her soon-to-be victory.

'Liz sure doesn't waste time in trying to humiliate others…' Kirito thought as he saw the blacksmith put the crystals on the columns opened his menu to send a quick message to Klein.

Hey Klein,

We are going to run a little late, a small detour, but we'll get there.

I'll explain to you later when we get there but we'll see you and the others at Agil's shop.

-Kirito

Kirito quickly closed his menu and looked to see Asuna in her menu, sending him the request for the duel that he received moments later after seeing her. He accepted and put it for Normal mode with a 10 minute timer. Both of them stepped away to be away from each other and wait for the time to count down to the beginning of the duel.

"You know you could back down now." Kirito said to Asuna smugly, in which he managed to break the concentrated look on her face as it was replaced with a pout.

"The same could be said to you too, Kirito-kun." Asuna replied as the focused look she previously had resurfaced. Kirito couldn't help but smile at her competitiveness since it was one of the traits that he shared with her. As the timer continued to count down, the couple unsheathed their new swords and quickly got into a fighting stance for the duel.

"Good luck! Make this fight look good, everyone is going to see it when we go to Agil's shop later!" Liz said as she sat on a stone bench on the sidelines with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. Asuna thought of the possible reactions that Kirito might have at losing and she was enjoying the thought of it.

3... 2... 1… START

Asuna quickly ran towards Kirito and sent a barrage of jabs with her rapier. All of which were blocked just as fast as she sent them. Kirito blocked all of them but did nothing on the offensive. Asuna noticed this and as she jumped back slightly to see if Kirito would do anything, she saw that he remained in the same defensive pose that he started with.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you attacking?" she asked as she retook her own defensive pose. She looked him in the eyes and saw the conflicting emotions in them.

"Well... I feel like I'm breaking my promise if I attack you…" he said as he lowered his sword slightly. A smile couldn't help but form on Asuna's face as she remembered this.

"Kirito-kun this is just a duel and it's us fighting! We both know that this is just a fight for pure competition. It's okay to attack me, okay?" she told him as they started to walk around each other in a circle. He thought about it for a bit.

'She's right… this isn't the same as when we were in the cave or when we're fighting other players… this is just for fun.. Okay!' he raised his sword and gave Asuna a nod to say that he was alright to continue.

They both continued to circle each other until Asuna dashed again to strike. Kirito quickly blocked all of them again but just before Asuna dealt the last of her jabs, Kirito jumped over her and landed behind her and he was about to strike her when Asuna blocked with her blade. Both blades quickly clashed and they remained like that for a bit.

"I hope you're ready to taste defeat Kirito-kun." Asuna said as their blades continued to clash.

"The same goes to you." Kirito said in response just before they separated. This time, Kirito began to attack, sending slash after slash but none of them making contact with Asuna. This continues back and forth for a few minutes and neither of the HP has fallen in the least bit. Just as Asuna thought that one of her strikes was about to hit, Kirito's sword was there to block it and vice versa.

'When did they get so equally matched in fighting!?' Liz thought as she could barely see the movement of both of their blades. They started to circle each other again and they both jumped at the same time to get a last strike in as they both knew that the 10 minutes were about to be up. They both neared each other with their blades aimed at each other's necks.

As their blades neared, an excited Liz was at the edge of her seat to see up close which of her friends she would get to humiliate for the rest of the day. As both of their blades were about to reach their targets, both of the hands wielding them stopped just centimeters before hitting. The couple was in the exact same position to hit the others throat with the edge of their sword. They looked at each other and waited to see which of them would move first, but before they could continue they heard a yell of anger.

"Oh come on! That is not how a duel can end! I wanted to see which of you I can make fun of for this!" Liz said as she dejectedly slumped in her seat.

At the mention of the end of the duel, both Asuna and Kirito looked up to see the timer with a few seconds left reach 10 minutes and stating their duel as a tie. They looked back at each other and lowered their blades and stood back, sheathing their swords while Liz pouted in her seat.

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**A/N: Like I said, I'm not good at action scenes. Happy April Fools day people, mine sucked! Sorry about any errors and see you next week!**


	9. The Meeting

**A/N: Yes! I can finally- wait… I should probably explain this at the bottom of this chapter instead… ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE BOTTOM**

**Disclaimer: This sad author unfortunately doesn't own Sword Art Online.**

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"Well that really turned out REALLY unexpected." Liz said as they walked to Agil's shop where they were all going to meet up before everyone logged out.

"I was hoping to beat you Kirito-kun…" said a disheartened Asuna as she pouted.

"Did you think I wasn't hoping to beat you?" Kirito with the same tone as they both remembered the ending of their battle.

"At least I have some good footage from your fight! I might use this for advertising now…" Liz muttered as she walked ahead of the couple.

'Well at least I didn't lose...' the couple thought as they walked hand in hand, following Liz. It took only a few minutes until they finally reached Agil's shop, and walked in.

"Hey Kirito, What took so long!?" Klein asked, not waiting for a response as he took a large drink of what most likely in-game alcohol.

"Ask Liz." was all he said as he went to greet the owner. Klein immediately turned to Liz and gestured for her to tell her, which she gave him a mischievous smile. Asuna saw Sinon leaning against the counter talking with Agil and she quickly pulled Kirito back slightly.

"You think she told anyone?" she asked Kirito.

"I don't think so; most likely she'll use it as blackmail someday."

"Well, that's reassuring…" she said as they both continued to walk to where the blue haired Cait Sith and the Giant Gnome stood.

"Hey Agil-san, Sinon-san." Asuna said as they were within hearing range of the two people in the back. Said people turned at the mention on their player names and greeted them back.

"Hey guys, what took you so long? Klein was just about to break into his third bottle of wine from waiting for you three." Agil said as the Kirito and Asuna were at the counter. Kirito was about to answer but was unable for the voice of a certain pink haired blacksmith beat him to it.

"All of you get over here! Any question related to how come we're late will be answered now." She said as she took out 4 recording crystals from her inventory.

"Why do I get the feeling Liz-san is trying to humiliate someone?" Silica said as she appeared from the back of the shop with Pina on her shoulder.

"I wish I could humiliate someone… this is just for entertainment now apparently so watch." Liz said as she handed those who weren't at the duel a recording crystal. Everyone looked at the crystals suspiciously. Knowing Liz, the crystals could be traps in disguise. Four sets of eyes turned to look at the Spriggan and Undine.

"They are just normal recording crystals; just watch them before Liz does decide to do something." Kirito said to reassure them. All four of them began to look at the content on the crystals and after 10 minutes all eyes were on the couple to which neither of the two found comfortable.

"Any reason you two started to fight or is Kirito looking for a new thing to add to his 'List of Stupid Things'?" Sinon asked the two, causing Kirito too immediately to scowl at the second mention that day of a supposed list.

"We dueled to prove a point. Both Kirito-kun and Liz said that I was the most stubborn, so of course I wanted to prove them wrong so Kirito-kun and I had a challenge." Asuna explained.

"But you are stubborn…" Liz muttered behind Klein. Asuna was about to retort but Kirito spoke up before she could.

"Okay wait, first things first. Why does everyone think I have a list!?" Kirito asked to which he got a look that said 'the answers pretty obvious' with a few chuckles from the shopkeeper.

"We think you have a list because of what happened 3 days ago." Agil said to the raven haired boy, causing him to frown and everyone around him to laugh at the memory at when happened on that day.

"That wasn't my fault you know…" Kirito said in a poor defense. After this was said, everyone exchanged stories of when their say was spent like.

Silica spent the rest of the day with Agil in the shop after leaving Liz's shop since Agil asked for an extra hand earlier to help sorting through the new items that he had in the shop. Klein had been buying some wine bottles from a player merchant in the Salamander zone's capital, Gadan. Sinon had been in the imp territory training; at the mention of this a certain couple blushed slightly. After Sinon and Silica's visit, Liz had been forging weapons day all until Asuna and Kirito had entered her shop with an angry Lyfa. All eyes again turned to the couple for an explanation, which they managed to give a small 5 minute version.

"I thought it was weird that the city was mostly empty…" Klein said before he chugged another part of his wine, causing everyone to groan from the amount of wine Klein seemed to practically inhale. Kirito looked to the corner of his vision and saw the time, and nudged Asuna, who immediately understood what he meant.

"Sorry everyone, but we have to leave. We'll see you all tomorrow!" Asuna said as she and Kirito ran out of the store and flew to new Aincrad's first floor. It was about to be 3'o clock in the real world and they had promised to see Yui before logging out to say goodbye.

They soon reached the floor and flew to the orphanage that most kids in ALO would often hang out at; it was also the place that Yui would go to play at. As soon as the couple landed, their daughter ran to them and gave them both a flying hug.

"Mama, Papa! I'm having so much fun!" Yui said as she let go of her parents out of the death grip hug.

"That's good to hear Yui-chan! We were hoping you'd have fun playing with children here!" Asuna said as she smiled at her in-game daughter.

"I did! Did Papa get better used to his sword with Mama's help?" she asked as she looked between her parents.

"Of course I did! Asuna's help is was very useful and now I'm completely used to fighting with it." Kirito said as he picked up Yui so that she was on eye level with her parents.

"That's good to hear since if you said otherwise I'd get Liz to get her mace out." Asuna said as she gave Kirito a smirk and took Yui out of his hands.

"Are you and papa going to log out?" Yui asked Asuna.

"Yeah we are, but tomorrow when we log on at night, well spend the rest of the day together!" Asuna answered as she hugged Yui.

"Okay then! I'll see Mama and Papa at home tomorrow!" Yui said as she was lowered to the ground. Kirito ruffled her hair and gave her a kiss on the top of her head.

"We'll see you tomorrow Yui." said Kirito. The couple quickly exchanged goodbyes with their daughter and finally opened their menu and logged out from the game and into the real world.

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**A/N: Okay announcement time! There shall be a poll on my profile for the next chapter! Chapter 10, and every other tenth chapter, shall be a side story on the things hinted in the chapters before that. The poll will be on for a week and the option with the most votes shall be the one posted on next Tuesday! Thanks for sticking with me so far and please vote on which chapter you want to read!**


	10. Side Story 1

**A/N: 10 weeks! Thank you to all that have supported this story till now! This chapter is a side story to what was hinted in the story so enjoy! **

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'Jeez, if you take so long at meeting someone, no wonder your still single.' thought an irritated Kirito when thinking of his red-haired friend.

Klein had told Kirito yesterday meet him and Agil in the edge of the 5th floor of Aincrad so that they could go explore the smaller dungeon together and clear it for a rare item.

* * *

"Kirito! We need you to come with me and Agil!" the red-head had told him as they sat on some of the crates in the back of Agil's shop.

"Why's that? Don't you have the fighting under control like you usually do?" Kirito said teasingly to the Salamander, since Klein always said that he was a master at fighting anything.

"Not funny Kirito. Agil and I want to clear a dungeon in new Aincrad for some special items for new swords but we can't do it alone, so we want you to help since you already cleared one with you girlfriend." Klein said, somewhat envious at the end when mentioning a girlfriend since Klein was known for being a 'Solo player in the game of love.' Kirito personally began to spread that title around to embarrass the man after Klein kept making fun of Asuna and his relationship.

"Okay, okay I get it. I'll help but just make sure that you guys make it on time to the meeting place." Kirito said, agreeing to help.

* * *

So far it looked like only one of them would be going in the dungeon for that item if the Salamander and Gnome didn't show up.

'First thing I told him to do and he didn't bother to do it… maybe I should have just gone with Asuna to the Puca zone to explore with her... On second thought, never mind. That's too much music in one place for my taste.' He thought as he sat down on the edge of the floor and looked down to see that new Aincrad was currently hovering over the Undine zone.

'I wonder if I could go for a quick swim in the water before they came… nah, I can just go later in the real world with everyone… when the snow is gone first.' He thought as he kept on looking down to the water and slightly leaned to the side and rested on the column leading to the next floor.

'Might be the only time I like columns.' Kirito thought as he began to get comfortable in the spot he was. The night before, in the real world, he had spent almost the entire night doing his homework for school so that he would have more time to spend with his friends and mainly Asuna. Now he was suffering the consequences as he felt his eyes begin to feel heavy and began do drop slightly from the exhaustion.

'I guess it was worth it though since now I'll have more time than usual to spend with Asuna on our dates since I know she must have finished her homework the day it was assigned.' He thought as he continued to overlook the water below.

"Klein, I'm might just throw you at this floor's boss without a weapon if you don't get here soon." He muttered to himself in regards to his friend. Kirito began to look at the water and saw how the water was crashing into land below, making a cascade of liquid to fall slowly back down to the sea. The sound of this wasn't helping the drained Spriggan. It probably didn't help that it was also night-time in Alfheim as well, making the subconscious of the raven-haired boy want to sleep even more.

'If I wait here anymore time…' the thought was never finished.

* * *

'Oh man, I'm late. No, wait. WE'RE late.' Klein thought as he and the Gnome flew as fast as they could to meeting point where they had agreed the day before.

"You know it's your fault we're late right?" Agil said to the Salamander.

"You share a part in the blame too you know! If you had messaged me earlier telling me that we could go already, we wouldn't have wasted so much time getting to the agreed place and make Kirito wait!" Klein said in his defense.

"You were supposed to message me in the first place, and secondly, Kirito is going to be mad at YOU since he probably thinks that you made us late." Agil said, making Klein frown slightly knowing that the Spriggan would blame him.

"Well, at least this is better for the guy then going to the Puca territory. I heard from Liz that Asuna wanted to take him there and trust me; Kirito isn't one to appreciate that annoying music. I only lasted about 30 minutes in the zone before I flew back to Arun at top speed." Klein said as he shuddered at the memory. Agil chuckled, remembering the look of the Salamander when he crashed into his store screaming that he had survived before collapsing onto the floor, saying that he should wear earmuffs to block out the sound next time.

"Well, at least we're not that late. Look, I can see Kirito now!" Agil said as he pointed at the black figure sitting on the edge of the 5th floor.

"You think he's mad? It looks like he's hunched over…" Klein said just as said figure slumped even lower and fell of the floor. Agil was the quickest to react and flew to the falling Spriggan.

'What just happened? Did he get paralyzed or something?' both Klein and Agil thought. The Salamander hurriedly flew after Agil, wanting answers as to what was happening. Agil quickly caught the limp figure of their friend and was as surprised as Klein when they saw Kirito.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM!?" Klein said as he went on a mini rant about the sleeping Spriggan. Agil and Klein flew to the 5th floor and set the black cladded figure on the grass before waking him up.

"Calm down Klein, the guys worn out. Don't you know that the kid did his homework from school break in one day? He's exhausted." Agil said before approaching the sleeping form of the Spriggan and shaking him slightly.

"Hey, Kirito wake up. I'll go get Liz if you want so she can get her mace out…" Agil said, making Kirito snap his eyes open and sit up.

"Wha-what happened?" the raven-haired boy asked as he felt the aura of irritation coming from Klein.

"Long story short, you fell asleep and Agil saved your butt from an accidental suicide." Klein said, making Kirito groan slightly at what he had just heard.

"You guys won't tell anyone, right?" he asked. Both of the men look at each other and for once that were in agreement on doing something humiliating to the youngest of the trio.

"TO THE PUCA ZONE!" Klein screamed as he and Agil flew off, leaving a confused Kirito on the ground until he realized who was in that zone.

'I'm never going to hear the end of this…' he thought before he flew off to follow the two.

* * *

**A/N: As you can tell, the Kirito side story won the poll. Thank you again people! We shall meet next week!**


End file.
